Online Party Planning

Online parties are similar to home parties, but the guests are able to stay at home in their pjs if they like. Its makes for a more relaxed atmosphere. You hold your party pretty much the same way you would a home party just you don't have a display case to set up.

1. Setup online parties

A) Finding a Hostess ~ The first step to setting up a online party is to find a hostess. Try asking friends and family members to host a online party for you. You can also put out ads on the internet looking for random hostess for your party. You could do a mystery hostess party where you would draw a name from the guest and give them the hostess benefits. Another idea is to host your own party.
 
B) Setting a good date -You will want to grab your calendar and find a good date for you and your hostess. But you will also want to do some research on which days are good for online parties. We have seen that during the week are good days for parties. When winter hits then weekends can be great for parties to because the family is not out doing things together instead they are home trying to stay warm

c) Getting a Room - You will need a chat room to have your online party in. There are several places on the net to get a chat room. Again you will want to do some research and find the best one for your needs.
Editor's Note: Internet Based Moms offers free chat rooms for Work at Home Moms Networking. Click here for the schedule and to book a room for your own party.

You have the option of getting your own chat room and hosting it on your site or paying for a party room. Here are some free chat rooms and some party rooms that you can get a fee.

1) Bravenet.com - Offers a free chat room to be hosted on your own chat. Bravenet offers many things great for WAHM's you can check them out at http://bravenet.com

2) The Mouse Connection - Offers party rooms hosted on there site. Fees ranges from $8.00 - $45.00 a month. There are many features that come with these chat rooms you can check them out at http://themouseconnection.com

3) Direct Sales Moms - Offers party rooms hosted on their site. Fees are $45.00 a year. There are many features that come with these chat rooms you can check them out at
http://www.directsalesmoms.com/online_party_rooms

There are many more rooms out there, these are just 3 we have either used or been in and they are good for parties

D) Figuring out Specials - Always know your company specials. We usually try to make up a special that is only good for the guest of the party also. This lets them know they are getting something special for taking the time to come to your party. Good specials range from a free (small) gift with a order, 10% off price, a lot of customers love the free shipping specials. Be sure that whatever you give as a special isn't going to leave you with no profit though.

E) Games and prizes  Be sure to come up with some games and prizes to be played at your party also. Games add a little competition to your party adding more fun. There are many games that can be played at parties below are just 4 of the games we have played before:

1) Scramble - Pick 5 - 10 words from your site or your business and scramble them up before the party. Let everyone know that the words are coming from your site or your business whichever you choose.

2) Trivia - Pick 5-10 questions about your site. Let everyone know that the answers can be found on your site. The first person to get the correct answer gets a point at the end of the game the person with the most points gets the prize you have picked out.

3) Bingo - Have a list of words on your site and have guest pick out 5 words and email you those words, then later on when time for the game start picking words from your list, the first person who you call all 5 words calls bingo and wins the game

4) Auctions - These are a blast and we have done great with them. You make up a list of ways for guest to earn play money to bid with. With the highest way to earn being either purchasing or booking a party
Then you pick out a few prizes to auction off. This is a great game to get competitive juices going.

For each game you have you will want to have a prize. There are many different prizes that you could give, below is just some suggestions for a prize. When picking out a prize be sure to pick out one that is suitable for the game. For example if its a harder game you might wanna pick out a better prize than if its a easy game.

A) Gift Certificates -  in what ever amount you deemed suitable. Usually $5 - $10 are good amounts.

B) Coupon Books made up of coupons for certain amount off a certain product.

C) If you company offers sale aids for giveaways at home parties these make great gifts too.

F) Preparing Invite and sending it A invite to a online party is like a ad. You will want it to entice people to come to your party. Be sure to include all the info that is needed for your party like date, time, place, specials etc... Send the invite out to all your friends and family and to any groups you belong to. Be sure not to send them to people you don't know or groups your not in, this can be considered spam if you do and you don't want to get in trouble for spam. You can send a invite via email or you could use evite.com and they will send your invite out for you.

2 Actual Party

A) Introduction of your business You will want to greet people when they come into your party. Wait until few minutes after the time it is suppose to start and then let everyone know what it is you do. Be sure to thank them for being at your party.

B) Sales Specials and Leads Let all your guest know what the specials for the party are. Also make sure they know where to get to your site at. A suggestion would be to have the link on the party page so they can just click right on it. Watch for any questions that someone might have. Answer them to the best of your ability.

C) Games and prizes You have your games and prizes figured out, pick a good time to play them usually after everyone has had a chance to look through your specials and site

D) Recruiting & Hosting Leads Let your guest know what your hostess is getting tonight for hosting the party. Tell them they can get the same thing if they would like to host a party also. Ask them to let you know if they want to host and then try to set a date then for the party if you can't let them know you will be emailing them to pick out a good date Tell the guest what you get from starting your own business. Be sure to tell them the recruiting special that your company has going.

E) Chit Chat Make room for general chit chat all through your party. Don't want it all to be business but make sure you keep control of your room that way when you need the conversation geared back to business it can easily be done.

3 Closing the Party

A lot of times online parties don't end right when they are scheduled to so plan on being there a longer than what you have actually planned . When everyone is getting ready to leave (they will usually leave at different times) be sure to thank them for coming and let them know you will be contact with their total (if they ordered and if you hadn't already gotten it to them) Also let them know you hope they had fun and you hope to see them around again sometime. Ask
if they would like to be added to a invite list you are making for
upcoming online parties. Be sure to thank you host for hosting and let her know you will be in contact to let her know what she has earned from her party

This is just a basic way to have a online party. You will want to do what feels comfortable to you. Play with the idea do what works best for you.

Editor's Note: For a more comprehensive look at running an online party, check out TBA's ebook How to Have An Online Party. You won't be short on ideas on how to make your party a success!
 
TBA stands for Tricia, Billie and baby Ashley a
mother/daughter/granddaughter team. TBA runs 2 sites TBA Deals that offers plenty of wahm resources - http://tbadeals.us TBA Gift Shop
offering specials on Tupperware and Usborne Books -
http://tbagiftshop.us